The Tale of Two Smokers
by Mel Writer
Summary: "Sanji had transferred into this new high school 3 days ago, if only to 'make normal friends' as his father oh-so lovingly put. Uh-huh. Right. What was normal these days?" Sanji is sent to Namimori to make friends outside of his current circle, and ends up meeting someone who becomes so much more.
1. Chapter 1

Yes, this is a slash fic. No, I do not care.

I do not own either One Piece, or Katekyo Hitman Reborn!.

Paring: Gokudera Hayato and Sanji. Gokudera is shorter than Sanji, btw. 168 cm vs 177cm. So close!

Warning: Yaoi... bad language... um... crack and idiocy? Bad writing? Please note, I started writing this in 2013. I recently rediscovered it, re-read what I had written, and found that I actually remembered where this was going. I know I shouldn't be working on anything but Mirror, but once I remembered this... I couldn't stop. I needed to continue writing it.

Summary: "Sanji had transferred into this new high school 3 days ago, if only to _'make_ _normal_ _friends'_ as his father oh-so lovingly put. Uh-huh. Right. What was normal these days?" Sanji is sent to Namimori to make friends outside of his current circle, and ends up meeting someone who becomes so much more.

* * *

Sanji looked around the roof top with a sigh. The sky was a clear blue, the temperature was near perfect. The lunch Sanji had made for himself was as delicious and hefty as the meals he made back in the Baratie. The day was almost perfect.

And Sanji felt lonely.

Sanji had transferred into this new high school 3 days ago, if only to _'make_ _normal_ _friends'_ as his father oh-so lovingly put. Uh-huh. Right. The fuck was normal these days?

Sanji had been thrown out of his place, put into a new one of his own, _in a new town_ , (town, not city, _town_ ) and told to make _normal_ friends.

Heaving another sigh, he slid down to the ground, bento in hand, and pulled out his cell. He scrolled through the messages he got, at least one from everyone of his friends. Even that damn Marimo had texted him, telling him to get his prissy ass in gear and make some friends, so he could come home soon.

At least the thought was sweet...

The blond chef sent out a reply to each one as he ate his lunch. He finished eating with half of lunch period left before the bell rang, and no-one to text. He checked his watch. His friends back in Ikebukuro wouldn't have lunch period until his was over, and so Sanji was left with nothing to do but sit back, watch the clouds and sleep. Perhaps he could get a smoke in...?

The door to the roof opened, thankfully away from him, and he looked up, daring the new comer to say anything regarding the cigarette pack and lighter in his hands. Sanji's deep blue eyes met with the seemingly always angry jade green of the new comer, and Sanji found himself offering one of the death sticks to this silver-haired young man. The action seemed to dissipate the spell of silent contemplation that had formed between the two high schoolers.

"No thanks, I've got my own. Mind if I join you though?" the blond transfer student shook his head 'no' as the door closed. Gokudera Hayato assessed the new transfer student, making sure he was no threat to Juudaime's life. Finding none, he let up his guard – slightly – and leaned against the wall beside the new student, pulling out his own pack and lighter, and lighting up. They sighed out a breath of smoke simultaneously, and enjoyed another moment of silence between them.

They were equally half finished their cigarettes when Sanji decided to introduce himself.

"Sanji Noir."

Sliding down to sit next to the new student, Sanji, the silver-haired bomb-shell repeated the action.

"Gokudera Hayato."

They had finished smoking their first cigarettes, and just as Sanji had started his second, he remembered where he had seen Gokudera before. The silver-haired, green-eyed teen was in his new class, and although the other teen looked like a delinquent, he was a rather brilliant young man, as shown by the scores on the tests that were given and graded on the second day Sanji was there.

"Hey, what happened to the other two people you hang out with?" He asked, genuinely curious. "For a while there I didn't reconsigned you without them." Sanji glanced to the side, looking at his new company.

For a moment, a flash of concern flickered across Gokudera's stormy green eyes, before his scowl of indifference was back. "Juudaime caught the flu, so he's out for the day. And I could care less about the Baseball freak." Gokudera's scowl increased and for a second, it almost looked like he was pouting. At this thought, Sanji let out a low laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gokudera asked, turning his glare (pout) on Sanji. Said blond laughed a little louder.

"No, it's nothing. You just remind me of how I get with a friend of mine." he paused in his laughter, arms crossed lightly over his mid-section. "Well, kinda friend. Or, maybe more like that annoying cousin you don't wanna know or be related to?" he was mumbling out the last bit, but Gokudera caught it, and returned the laugh. Within the span of 30 seconds, the two of them went from a calm silence between two strangers, to laughing like idiots alone on the roof top.

Sanji straightened in his spot, sighing out one last laugh. He looked at his watch and bit back a groan. "Damn. The bell's gonna ring soon." he looked over to his new found friend, and sighed. "You know, I really don't want to go to class." Sanji hinted, hoping that the other wouldn't mind skipping with him. A grin spread across Gokudera face.

"Well, I know of a _few_ arcades that are rather decent. Wanna go check 'em out?"

* * *

Hours passed, and they ended up at Sanji's place, laughing still at the last place that had kicked them out.

"Oh my god! Did you see the look on that one guy's face when you started flirting with his girl? It was priceless!"

"Or when you flipped him off? That was perfect! His nostrils actually flared! What, is he a bull or something?"

The two paused in their laughter for a second, looked at each other, and burst back into uncontrollable laughs. Sanji was the first to calm down as he stepped into the kitchen, checking on the slow cooker he'd set to low that morning for his favourite comfort food. He'd made meatballs the night before, added a few to his lunch that morning, and had them slow cooking all day in a sauce he had created when he was first adopted by Zeff and had perfected over time. Usually he has this wondrous concoction over rice, but considering his Italian guest, maybe pasta would be better?

"Oh? Nice looking kitchen you got here. Ever use it?"

"Everyday." Sanji turned to Gokudera and grinned. It really was a wonderful kitchen, for such a small apartment. With a fairly large stove and oven, plenty of counter space, two sinks, lots of cupboard space, and a bar/ island that separated the kitchen and the living room. Mahogany wood and marble counters were simulated with paint and a specially designed wallpaper made for counters. The entrance to the apartment was just off to the side of the kitchen, leading into the living room, and down the only hallway on the other side of the kitchen was his bedroom and bathroom. Gokudera sat on one of the bar stools at the separating bar/island while Sanji stood, his back to his new friend.

"I never told you what I did for a living before coming here, did I, Gokudera?"

The silverette's eyes drifted down to his hands resting on the counter in front of him. "You know, since I'm calling you Sanji, you can use my first name too."

With a grin on his face, Sanji repeated himself. "Well then, _Hayato_ , I don't think I ever told you what I did back in 'Bukuro, did I?"

"'Bukuro?"

"Short for 'Ikebukuro', the part of Tokyo I'm from."

"Ah. I see. So then, _Sanji,_ just what did you do for a living before you came to little old Namimori? No wait! Let me guess! You were a buss boy! No, better! A burger flipper!" Hayato laughed outright and Sanji stuck his tongue out at the cackling teen.

"Ha. Funny. Very funny. But no, I was a Sous chef in my father's restaurant. I was, at one point, a buss boy, but that was way back when I was 8. Chef Garde and inventory at 10 and prep chef at 11. Sous chef at 14. It was marvellous."

"Chef Garde? Never heard of that one."

"It's basically the chef that takes inventory control in the pantry and works with things like cold cuts and salads."

"Wow, doing inventory at 10? Your father must have really trusted you."

"Oh, not just doing inventory, ordering the stock too. And less 'trust' and more like the old bastard just couldn't be bothered to do it himself." Sanji laughed softly, pulling one of the pots down from its hanging point along the wall beside the stove. He filled the pot just over half with water and set it on the electric element, turning it on to medium. "So how do you feel about pasta and meatballs for dinner?"

"Wow," Hayato said, a sarcastic note layered thick throughout his tone. "How very thoughtful of you. Just how did you know the Italian in me loves pasta? And on that note, I'm staying for dinner? Since when?"

"Since just now. I decided it." Sanji said, a bit smug and playful. With a touch of uncertainty entering his eyes, he added, "Unless you already have plans?"

For a moment, Hayato thought that he should maybe go and see Juudaime, check on him and give him his notes for the day- "Nope." there was no way he was going to see Tsuna when he had skipped a whole half day of note taking. "I've got nothing, so dinner sounds awesome. And again, why pasta and meatballs?"

"Well, it's actually supposed to be rice and meatballs, that's my comfort food, I started making it yesterday, let the sauce and meatballs slow cook all day. But I figured I could change it, since you are Italian, and, you know, pasta." Sanji chuckled, making a random gesture at the bag of pasta sitting innocently on his counter.

"Rice? That sounds like an odd combination."

"Oh but it's so good. Maybe I will do rice, just to show you how good it is. That and now that I think about it, I have no idea how my sauce would taste on pasta." Sanji turned to his spaghetti noodles and really looked at them, almost glaring.

"Is it too late to change it to rice? 'Cause now I'm curious."

"It's never too late, man. Never." they shared another laugh, and Sanji set out to re-start dinner, dumping out the water from the pot and grabbing a measuring cup from above the sink. While thinking to himself that he'd like a smoke right about now, he grabbed an ash tray and set it on the island between them.

"Thanks, I was just about to ask for one."

"No problem.…. Do you mind 5 minute rice? I don't have any long grain."

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind. And I think I'm going to check out that view, if you don't mind." Hayato said, standing up from the bar. He grabbed the ash try and headed out to the balcony. The view was amazing, the sun had just set, some colourful lights still hanging around in the sky, painting it in reds and purples. He took a deep breath of fresh air and contemplated not lighting up. With a smile, Hayato decided to put his pack back into his pocket and leaned against the railing. They were 7 stories up, and the world appeared so small. People seemed like unimportant dots walking along the sidewalks, and cars looked like toys Hayato could just reach out and grab. In the far distance, he could even see the edges of farm land just outside of Namimori.

And for a moment, just one moment, he let his guard down completely. He let his shoulders relax, he took another deep breath, released it in a sigh and thought about why he was able to let his guard down so easily. Why, when he had known this person for a mere half day? Why, when he wasn't even sure the door had been locked, or that there wasn't a near-by sniper lining up a shot, or that Sanji really was who he had said he was? Why, when Sanji could even be an assassin looking for a way in to get to Juudaime easier?

Because Sanji was just easy to be himself around. As easy as breathing to Hayato.

There was movement behind him and Hayato smiled, listening as Sanji walked out and joined him at the railing. The blond grinned at him and said, "So you took my ash try from me, and you aren't even using it? Tsk tsk."

Hayato gave a small laugh, tightening his grip on the ash try he had forgotten was in his hands, and looked back at this strange blond that had quite suddenly appeared in his life. They spent a good few minutes standing there, watching the dark set in and the lights come on. Hayato turned back to Sanji, watching the man watch the stars before looking up at them himself. They were beautiful; a beautiful contrast of white dots in a blanket of dark sky.

"If there's one thing I like about this place that's really different from 'Bukuro, it's the stars. The lights of the city are too much for them to come out, and some nights, I can't even find the moon. The stars here..."

"I know," Hayato nodded, "Back in Italy, at my father's place, I could always see them. Then I made the stupid move to the big city and I couldn't see them anymore. Here... I'm reminded of the few good times with dad and my step mom."

 _'Where the holy UMA did that come from?!'_ Hayato shouted in his head. He looked back at Sanji, eyes wide in surprise and a touch of fear. "I didn't just say that. Could you forget you heard that?!"

Sanji's blue eyes saddened a bit and the blond reached into his pocket for his smokes. Lighting up, he said,

"Let too much slip to a new friend? Don't worry," he paused and turned back toward his apartment, "I didn't hear a damn thing." he turned back with a smile that Hayato very suddenly wanted to return and said, "You coming in? Rice should be done by now."

* * *

Hayato spent the walk back to his own apartment thinking back on his day. He'd gone to Juudaime's early that morning to find that Tsuna was sick after staying out in the cold rain earlier in the week, and that the baseball idiot was just as sick for the same reason. Why Hayato hadn't been there with them was a mystery Reborn wouldn't answer.

Then he was asked by Juudaime's mother to take notes for Juudaime and what had he done? He had gone for only half the day and then skipped the rest with the new transfer student. Gone to arcades he'd only gone to with Juudaime on the weekends before, and then even rejected the thought of going to see Juudaime! Was he insane?

... possibly.

But spending all that time with Sanji... it felt right. Just laughing like an idiot like the baseball freak; it was fun, so fun he wanted to do it all over again. And that meatball-over-rice stuff was fantastic! Hayato grinned stupidly; just the memory of that amazing food made his mouth water! For reasons unknown to him, he suddenly regretted leaving Sanji's place. He wanted to talk more, learn more about Sanji's past, his family, and good god, his friends back in 'Bukuro sounded fantastically hysterical. Checking the time on his phone, Hayato came to a halt in front of his apartment door. Was it really almost midnight? And how did he miss so many calls and texts?

"Wow..." he muttered, taking out his keys and sliding the lock closed.

... closed? Didn't he lock the door this morning?

Immediately, or rather blatantly, his training as a mafioso kicked in and he could sense someone on the other side of the door. No... two someones? There were two people in his apartment and there was no way that whoever it was wouldn't know that Hayato was there at his door; his lock was loud. He crouched and thought about what he should do, considering that he had just essentially locked two potentially armed enemies in his home, and there was no way to get out without passing the silverette...

The lock pulled back and Hayato jumped up, all but slamming his body into the wall next to his door, pulling out a few sticks of dynamite and almost magically lighting a cigarette at the same time. He relaxed though when the door opened and reviled his red-headed sister, Bianchi.

"Nee-san!" he said, placing his dynamite back in it's pocket while placing his hand over his stomach, happy that he had, for the most part, gotten over the psychosomatic illness whenever he saw his sister's face. "You scared me! What are you doing here?"

"I scared you?! Where the hell have you been? Get in here!" the red-head grabbed her brother's shirt and cancer stick in one move, throwing one to the ground and the other into the apartment. Hayato tripped over his ill-placed throw rug and landed face first into the couch.

"Seriously! What the hell?!" he screeched, standing up and just before he could get in his sister's face for throwing him, Bianchi stormed up.

"That is _my_ question, Hayato. I have tried calling you _10 times._ When the school called me to tell me that you were missing from class and I got worried, so I called you. You didn't pick up. I tried again. I came all the way out here to look for you, thinking that maybe you had gone home sick and gone to sleep because I couldn't think of _any_ other reason for you to miss an afternoon of class when Tsuna needed your notes. And you know what I found when I got here?"

Hayato was fairly certain she had paused so he could answer her rhetorical question, so instead he grabbed the t.v. remote, turned and sat down on the couch. Rolling his eyes, he hit the power button on the remote, expecting to get away from his sister's scolding. Except nothing happened, no sudden light in the room, no flicker of life to the screen, nothing.

"What did you do to my T.V.?"

"I unplugged it." The young red head closed the door behind her, slamming it shut and watching Hayato jump at the sound with a bit of a smug smile. She flipped on the light switch and sauntered over to her little brother's side, plopping down beside him snuggling up close. No, he wasn't forgiven that easily, but Bianchi knew Hayato _hated_ being this close to anyone, especially his sister, so this kind of torture was something the red-head loved doing.

"What the hell? Get away from me!"

Bianchi continued with her rant from before, like nothing had been said or done in her pause. "I found my little brother's apartment empty. Completely empty. Where were you?!"

This time Hayato knew his sister had paused without rhetoric but he didn't want to respond, and instead turned his hardest, coldest glare on his sister. Bianchi took this in stride, raising an eyebrow and stared her baby brother down. After a minute or so, the red-head decided to take things up a notch, and swiftly got up just enough to swing herself back down onto Hayato's lap.

"Gah! OK! OK! I give! I'll talk, just get your fat ass off of me!"

"What did you just say?!"

"Alright!" boomed another voice, one that had both siblings flinch. They looked over the edge of the couch and that's when Hayato remembered that there had been two people in his apartment, not just his sister. (No matter how big her ego, personality, and pride were, they were not enough to make up a second person.)

"That's enough! Bianchi, go get a drink and cool your head. Gokudera," the voice, thundering with authority and power, was a voice Hayato knew better than most, no matter how much it was changing with the man's swiftly ageing body. "Come here. You and I need to talk."

Reborn went well into the morning with his lecture, and despite it, Hayato regretted nothing.

* * *

The next morning, Sanji got up to sluggishly make his bento for the day and his breakfast, hating the fact that he couldn't get Hayato out of his head, and couldn't sleep because of it. He picked up his cell phone to text the silver-haired boy, wondering if he wanted any of the left over meatballs and rice, when he realized something rather stupid of him. The blond spent nearly 10 hours with the other boy, talking and laughing, and not once did he think to get his number. He 'tisk'ed.

"Damn it."

Well, so much for that. Sanji hummed over what he should do, when a thought came to him. Didn't Hayato say something about his friends being sick, and therefore, missing the day yesterday? If they came today, there was little doubt in Sanji's mind that Hayato wouldn't rave over the food last night, and Sanji would either have to hide his lunch or share it with them. If they weren't there, Hayato was sure to skip lunch again, and Sanji would undoubtedly share with him (The chef had been appalled when Hayato reviled he typically didn't eat when he was alone).

So with that in mind, the blond made a second, smaller bento, consisting mostly of left over meatballs and rice, and left a little early with a smile on his face. He arrived early, hoping to run into Hayato and talk to him, but the other wasn't there, and only showed up about 20 seconds before the bell went off with two others running with him. The one next to Hayato was tall, maybe taller than Sanji, with dark skin and black hair and a smile so kind and wide, it reminded the blond of his friend Luffy back home. The boy front and centre was much shorter, gasping like breathing hurt, and staggering to his seat on shaky legs like running was normally an impossibility. The taller male was laughing like he won something (or was high, because really who could tell?) and Hayato was... fussing.

Sanji couldn't really find any other word to describe what the silver-haired boy was doing, helping the shorted teen to his seat, carrying his bag and hanging it up for him, asking if he was OK, if he needed anything, and more. Even the teacher went either unheard or ignored for the most part when he came in, and ended up walking up to the two of them to tell Hayato to go to his seat. The blow-up was expected, the words Hayato spat were not.

"How dare you imply that your stupid lessons are more important than my Juudaime's health!"

 _' My Juudaime? What does that mean?'_ Sanji thought to himself, watching as the smaller boy bowed his head in respect, or embarrassment, and apologized for Hayato's loud words. "Please Gokudera-kun! I'm OK, really! Just go sit down."

Sanji wasn't really sure what to expect at this point, but he was still surprised when Hayato stiffened his back and saluted the smaller teen with a cry of, "Hai, Juudaime!" and promptly walked over to his desk, sitting without another word. The teacher blinked as if uncertain about the teen's sudden obedience, before shrugging it off and wandering back to the black board to start the day. Sanji tried to catch the silver-haired teens attention with a good morning wave, but went widely ignored. So the chef focused on the school work, and tried (and failed) to ignore the feeling of depression and dread building up in his stomach like rocks on a cliff face tumbling down to bury him alive.

It was lunch before Hayato even acknowledged Sanji's existence.

"Hey Sanji, you wanna join us for lunch?" Hayato asked, gaining the sudden interest of over half the class. The blond momentarily considered saying something snide, maybe along the lines of 'oh, now you're talking to me?' but went instead with a smile and said,

"Sure, I'd love too." Hayato matched his smile, and Sanji turned to reach into his bag, retrieving the two bento's he had brought with him. He turned and stood just in time to avoid knocking over the petite boy who had arrived to class with Hayato. "Sorry," he sputtered, nearly tripping himself back into his own seat.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I almost ran into you. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can call me Tsuna." the boy said with a smile on his face. Sanji smiled back, and decided that he liked this 'Tsuna', and took the offered hand in a friendly shake.

"Hi, I'm Sanji."

"And I'm Yamamoto Takeshi!" Sanji turned around completely, startled by the sudden introduction, before smiling at the tall boy standing next to Hayato. "Hi." he said back with a chuckle.

Heading up to the roof, the four of them were joined by four girls, and the group of eight decidedly sat in a circle under the sun.

"So, Sanji-san? Why do you have two bento's? Ah! My name is Kyoko, by the way." the girl sitting directly in front of him said shyly. "And these are my friends, Hana, Haru and Chrome." she continued, and each girl waved to the sound of their names. Sanji smiled at the cute girls, but before he could get out an answer, they were all joined by yet another person. Well, less 'joined' by and more... interrupted by?

The door opened loudly and they all turned to look up at the new comer, Sanji turning the most, as the door was right behind him. Tsuna spoke up first.

"Ah, Hibari-san! What are you doing here? Did you want to join us?" the much older looking teen (like seriously, was he held back a few years?) sneered in distaste at the group and swiftly turned around, gripping the ladder that lead to the highest part of the roof that was stationed about three feet from the door.

"Don't wake me up, or I'll bite you all to death." he said sourly as he ascended the ladder. Sanji turned to the rest of the group, his eye brows raised, and muttered,

"Well, he seems pleasant."

"That's just Hibari Kyoya, he's always like that." Tsuna said in a sigh.

"You can just ignore the bastard, for the most part. That's what I do." Hayato said with a lazy shrug. He turned his eyes to the second, smaller bento and asked, "So, is that second bento what I think it is?"

"Depends," Sanji replied with a smirk. "What do you think it is?" and he handed the dish over, noticing not for the first time that Hayato didn't have a lunch with him while everyone else did. The silver-haired teen pulled the cloth away from the small, metal box and almost drooled when it reviled the delicious meal he had had last night. He must have made some sort of noise in the back of his throat, because Sanji started to laugh a little and Tsuna leaned over from his other side.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Really, really good." Hayato answered and offered a bite to Tsuna to try. He picked up a meatball in his chopsticks with some rice stuck to it, and brought it closer to himself to examine it farther before deciding to just go for it, and popped it in his mouth. If the sound he made was anything to go by, then Sanji knew he liked it. A lot.

"Oh... My... God... Sanji-san, did you make this? It's so good!" Sanji just laughed as the girls leaned forward asking if they could try some too. Hayato looked unwilling to share with anyone but Tsuna, but relented with some pouts aimed his way. When Yamamoto, the tall version of Luffy sitting on Sanji's other side, asked for some as well, Hayato just huffed and said that he couldn't. So Sanji offered a bite of his own lunch for him. The group chatted for a while, exchanging how they met and their favourite hobbies. Some of their stories were so wild, Sanji almost didn't believe them.

After all, who would believe that someone who's smile was so like his "captain's" would ever try to kill himself? And the way the taller teen talked about his attempted suicide, the way he casually brushed it off like the whole thing was nothing worth remembering... it was almost like a small part of him still wished he hadn't been saved. The way his smile darkened for just a second, really, just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment... it was like Yamamoto still thought about jumping again.

And that thought really scared Sanji, because Luffy's smiles sometimes got just as dark as Yamamoto's. And the chef really didn't want to think of the implications of that. That Luffy could get that dark, the same way Yamamoto could. Did that smile mean that Luffy thought about it too?

Very suddenly, Sanji wanted to call his friend up, wanted to make sure those thoughts were not in his head, because they had no right to clog up that wonderful mind. Sanji took a deep breath to quell his shaken thoughts, and stood from the circle, pulling out his pack of smokes and lighter as he went.

"I'm going to have a smoke, if you all don't mind. Hayato, wanna join me?" he asked as he started to remove himself from the group, walking toward the railing with a cigarette already in his mouth. He brought the lighter up to light the stick just as Hayato yelled out,

"Ah! Sanji wait!" he was sadly interrupted by a growl of "Smoking on school property? I'll bite you to death." which caught Sanji's attention just as the black-haired guy from the upper roof lunged.

* * *

-Omake of when Sanji called and talked to Luffy later that day-

Sometime after Sanji got home, and made himself a salad for dinner, the chef worked up the nerve to call one of his best friends. He stared at the name on the screen for a minute before hitting dial and brought it to his ear. It rang twice before Sanji was reminded why bringing the phone up was a terrible plan.

"SANJI! I'VE MISSED YOU!"

The scream nearly blew out his ear, so of course Sanji had to be polite and remind Luffy that being on the phone required his inside voice.

"KEEP IT DOWN, SHIT-HEAD! YOU NEARLY KILLED MY EAR!" Despite the hypocritical tone (and level) of voice, Sanji couldn't suppress the grin that split his face that came with Luffy's joyous laugh. He laughed with him for a moment.

"So! How've you been? Made any new friends yet? Think they'd join my crew?" Luffy sounded so excited over the prospect of new friends, Sanji almost lost his courage to ask what was on his mind.

Almost...

"Yeah, I met some people. They're kinda cool, I guess. There's this one guy though... he's a lot like you Luffy."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"His smile is just like yours, and his personality. I guess the only real difference that I can see is that he's really tall. Taller than me!"

"Oh! I wanna be tall!"

"Yeah! And he's always laughing, just like you. And this tall, always smiling guy... he tried to kill himself. Back in middle school..." the tone of the conversation got heavy, enough so that even Luffy and his endless laugh sobered to silence. Sanji gulped and continued, forcing the words from his throat.

"His smile... we were talking, me, him and a bunch of his friends, and the topic just came up... his smile got all dark, and I got the feeling that he still wished sometimes that he had jumped. That serious smile... it reminded me of how your smile gets sometimes when you don't think we see it. Luffy... do you have similar thoughts?" the other end was silent, so much so that Sanji wondered if Luffy had hung up, before there was a long sigh on the other end.

"So... you figured it out, huh? Sanji..." the blond chef almost didn't recognize his voice when Luffy spoke, he sounded so resigned. There was another sigh before Luffy's voice came back, "Just a sec, I gotta go to another room. Ace is here."

 _'So you don't want even your brother to know, huh?'_ Sanji thought, sinking deeper into his seat on the couch, his dinner salad sitting on the coffee table half-eaten and forgotten. He listened to Luffy throw some half-assed excuse over his shoulder, thankfully away from the phone, heard him shuffle to a new area and close a door, sealing off the background noise. There was a sudden _Fwamp_ as Sanji assumed Luffy plopped down onto the bed.

"Sometimes... just sometimes, I get thoughts like that." his voice was muffled, like he was talking into a pillow, and Sanji got the feeling this was Luffy's way of trying not to face his problem, even while talking about it. He wondered just how bad Luffy's thoughts were, if the boy was trying to hide from them.

"Why haven't you said anything to us? To Ace?" he asked instead, hoping that maybe getting his best friends' brother involved would help. Luffy's next words broke Sanji's heart, and his resolve, and forced the chef to bite back tears.

" _Because I don't want people to know how weak I really am."_

The crack in his voice, the stutter in his breath, the tremble of his whispered words.. there was no doubt in Sanji's mind. Luffy was crying. Sanji let out a stuttered breath of his own, and said just as quietly,

"You know I could never see you as weak, Luffy." Luffy let out a sob, one that came from the deepest part of his chest, and said,

"I know. But what I know and what I feel are different."

"Like what?"

"Like... Like I know that if you all found out about... you know, then you all would support me and help me. But I feel like you would all leave me. I know that fighting these thoughts makes me strong, but even having them makes me feel so weak... like I can't live up to the image you all have of me. Like I can't make Ace proud of me."

"Is that why you didn't want to talk in front of Ace?"

There was a subtle slide of skin against cotton, twice, and Sanji figured Luffy nodded, forgetting that Sanji couldn't actually see him. But it made sense, now. Why Luffy wouldn't tell anyone, especially Ace. They weren't really blood brothers, but they were just as close, if not closer. Luffy, if only in his own torturous mind, thought that he would lose Ace, and his friends, if anyone found out.

"But you know what, Sanji?" Luffy's voice startled Sanji a bit, but the chef recovered quickly, enough to respond with a quiet, "What?"

"I'll never, ever do anything to hurt myself, no matter how bad those thoughts get." the words alone seemed to spark a light back in Sanji's heart, and the determination in the other's voice brought a smile back to his face.

"Why's that?"

"Because I have a dream to chase! I can't chase it if I'm dead! Hahaha!" The words were blunt, tactless and so much like Luffy, Sanji could hardly believe the last five minutes were so hard...

"And you know, Luffy, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'll help you every single fucking step of the way. No matter what. We're all behind you."

"Shishishishi! I know!" if he sounded like he was crying again, Sanji didn't mention it.

* * *

so... that's all for now. More later, just not sure how much later. This took 4 years to get out of me, but I can guarantee it won't take that long to get out the next one.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this took so long, but this story, while entertaining, is not my main love.

Also, I'm really sorry, but I feel like Sanji is just a touch (Read: REALLY) OOC in this story. Oops? Also, also, Hibari too.

 _Spoken words in italics = French._ Or the recap. Or straight up in surprise. There is one of those in here too.

* * *

Last time; _"I'm going to have a smoke if you all don't mind. Hayato, wanna join me?" he asked as he started to remove himself from the group, walking toward the railing with a cigarette already in his mouth. He brought the lighter up to light the stick just as Hayato yelled out,_

" _Ah! Sanji wait!" he was sadly interrupted by a growl of "Smoking on school property? I'll bite you to death." which caught Sanji's attention just as the black-haired guy from the upper roof lunged._

* * *

Sanji only barely had time to dodge the coming onslaught of tonfa strikes to his face, no time to attack anywhere, unless he got serious. Sanji's attacker, Hitori or Hibashi or something, jumped back to assess the chef with narrowed eyes, tonfa still raised and poised to strike again.

"You... can fight. So why don't you?"

"Haa? How would you know that? And why the fuck did you attack me just now, huh?! Mother fucker! You made me drop my cig!" Sanji was livid, back rigid and hands balled in fists in his pockets.

"I know you can fight, because of how you dodge, herbivore. And you shouldn't be smoking on school property anyway." The attacker stated coolly.

"Herbivore? Are you shitting me? I'm _human_ ; which makes me a fucking _omnivore_ , you dipshit." He said, annoyance colouring his tone as he leaned forward, intent on beating this asshole into the ground. Sanji's wording seemed to only make the black-haired teen angrier, but before either teen could attack, Hayato and his smaller friend, Tsuna, blocked them. Literally.

"Woa, ok there, you really _really_ don't want to fight him. I don't know if you can fight at all, but he can and will beat the shit out of you." Sanji could hear Hayato saying, and something similar from Tsuna to the black-haired teen. "He attacked me first!" Sanji nearly shouted, pointing harshly at the bastard across from him, mirroring his sneer of distaste. Hayato pressed in farther than strictly necessary, brought one hand up to Sanji's shoulder and whispered,

"I really don't want to visit you in the hospital, so could you please back down? For me?"

Sanji really had no idea why that did fluttery things to his stomach (or his heart) but he took a step back, looked at Hayato and really searched his face, his eyes. For what Sanji really didn't know, but he sighed and grit out, "Fine. But if he attacks me again out of nowhere, I'm not holding back!"

Hayato smiled a small, grateful twitch of the lips, and pulled his hand back to his side. He gave a slight pause, watching Sanji's eye before turning back to start screaming at the tonfa bearing asshat. "And you! Sanji is a new student, he wouldn't know all your bullshit rules, or your reputation of being a hardass about them! Back the fuck off, alright?"

"Oh? You're being awfully kind to this particular rule breaking herbivore, Gokudera Hayato. Any reason why?" Hibari cocked his head to the side in question, a calm, mocking smirk on his lips, and just when Gokudera began to sputter that there wasn't any _reason_ he was being nice (Not that he was being nice at all. Really.) Hibari lunged.

Hayato tensed to receive the brunt of the attack, and a sudden hand came down on his shoulder with such pressure, he nearly stumbled back. A leg shot over his shoulder as Sanji launched himself from behind Hayato, his left leg catching one tonfa just under the grip once close enough and ripped it away with a kick powerful enough to send the weapon flying over the railing beyond. He braced with his left leg the moment it hit the ground and, in the same movement, sent one of his harder kicks from his stronger right leg into the other teen's centre mass.

The teen flew back nearly 6 feet, rolling into a skidding squat. There was a moment of still quiet as everyone one on the roof took a moment to understand what had just happened. Sanji straightened his stance, his hand still on Hayato's shoulder and turned slowly toward Hibari Kyoya.

"Oi. You."

Livid.

It was the only word Hayato could come up with that would come close to what Sanji looked like. The blond looked like a demon, rage marred his beautiful face, and murder sharpened those perfect blue eyes. Hayato wasn't even sure _Livid_ fully expressed Sanji's mood properly. He was terrifying.

"How dare you attack Hayato. I _just_ said I'd concede, that I wouldn't fight you and you still attack him for nothing? You son of a bitch. Stand up properly. We're going to fight for real." Sanji growled, literally growled and loosened his tie, taking in the smirk of the back-handed bastard who stood in front of him, single tonfa at the ready.

He kind of wanted to destroy that smirk.

So, with a cool look of his own, Sanji brought out his pack of smokes, pulled one out and lit it, all in one smooth action, all without ever looking away from the black-haired teen. And he watched with a sick satisfaction as that smirk fell slowly, and was replaced by a sneer so contorted, he looked ready to kill Sanji. And the chef loved it.

He noted from the corner of his eye how Tsuna and Tall Luffy (what was his name again? Sanji couldn't find it in himself to care just then) began herding the girls closer to the other side of the roof. He pulled in a deep breath of cigarette smoke, enjoying the feel of the nicotine filling his lungs, and let it out in a long stream from his nose.

"You gonna come at me or what?" Sanji asked smoothly, tapping the toe of his shoe against the ground. Almost as if to taunt him, the bell ending lunch period tolled loudly. Really the bell ringing wouldn't have stopped him from this fight; if _anything,_ the bell would have normally signaled the start of the fight. If his opponent felt the same, that is.

"I guess we'll resume this fight after school this afternoon." The black-haired asshole said with a sneer. He slipped the tonfa back under his jacket and turned to the door. The sudden shift in mood nearly floored Sanji.

"What?!" He sputtered. "The hell is your problem?! You started this whole thing! You can't just walk away!"

The bastard (Hibari! That was his name!) turned back to Sanji with another amused smirk. "I can and I just did. Now get to class, herbivore." He turned stone cold eyes to the rest of the audience and said sharply, "The same goes to the rest of you. Get. To. Class. Before I bite you to death." And Hibari walked out without another word.

Sanji stared at his back incredulously for a good minute before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Slowly the chef turned to see his new friend nudging him toward the door. "The fuck was that!?" He shouted. Or, he tried to shout. His surprise had clogged his throat and the words came out squeakier that he had meant, but he got the point across. Hayato shrugged.

"Just be happy you don't have to actually fight him." He said lightly, letting his hand fall from Sanji's shoulder. The chef would have likely exploded at his new friend for even insinuating he was weaker than that backwards asshole, but the way those pale fingers lingered on his elbow before leaving his arm entirely thoroughly distracted Sanji, and he found the way he suddenly missed the touch more interesting to think on than anything else. He followed the group back to his desk and spent the rest of the afternoon wondering why he wanted Hayato's hands on him again.

* * *

By the time school had ended for the day, Sanji had completely forgotten his interaction with Hibari the lunatic. He was reminded of the reset for a fight when said lunatic blocked his path in front of the school. Tonfa (both of them) already raised, a scowl on his face, and his body in a battle stance; he looked like the past afternoon hadn't happened, and the battle from lunch had never been interrupted.

"Where are you going, herbivore? I thought I said we would fight after school, since lunch ended before we could really get into it."

Sanji noticed that over half the student population had paused at hearing this, many people paling in… fear? He raised a curled eyebrow in question but didn't comment on it. Before he could say anything in return, he felt something bump lightly into his shoulder. The chef looked down to his side, letting his blond hair cover his face entirely as he caught Hayato's gaze. Green held on to blue for as long a moment as they dared, before Hayato looked back to Hibari to keep watch while he asked,

"Are you sure you can take him?"

Sanji took in his tone and watchful eyes, and said playfully, "What? Don't trust that I can hold my own?"

A smirk played at Hayato's lips for a moment, "Not really." He glanced up at Sanji again before sobering, eyes back to Hibari in a blink. "But seriously. I've seen what he can do, and I don't want you to be one of his victims."

Sanji leaned back a bit and laughed, "You make it sound like he's a rabid dog or something."

Hayato nodded, "Well, you're not far off."

"Are you two herbivores done flirting?" The older teen called suddenly, causing both Hayato and Sanji to look his direction, and throw up identical middle fingers, Sanji leaning in closer to Hayato than he needed to just to provoke the bastard.

"I'll be fine. But… can you hold my jacket for me while I'm kicking his ass? It's in my way." Sanji whispered, letting his breath ghost across Hayato's cheek. The chef could feel the heat from his companions' face as a light blush flashed across the tops of his cheeks, and he took a step back to take in the view. It was better than he had hoped. Hayato had a small pout on his lips, a half-hearted glare in his eyes, pink stretching across his face and denial on his tongue.

' _Oh my god, he looks actually adorable.'_ Sanji thought as a smile came to his lips.

"Whatever, jackass. I guess I can hold your jacket."

' _He's an embarrassed Tsundere! That's awesome!'_ Sanji almost couldn't hold back the rather un-manly squeal of glee as he shrugged out of his jacket, his tie coming off as well. He watched as Hayato ducked his head with a growl of 'Don't lose' and slunk away. The silver-haired teen was less that a yard away when Sanji felt the rush of killer intent, and barely ducked in time to dodge the first attack. With a sneer, Sanji pivoted his hips, and planted a strong knee into Hibari's side.

Hayato stood about 3 feet from his boss watching in awe as Sanji, the smart-ass new student with amazing skills in a kitchen, practically flew as he fought Hibari, the demon. Never had he seen a fighter as graceful or as spontaneous as Sanji. Not even in Tsuna, whenever he fought with his Dying Will.

With Tsuna there was always a logic, a pattern that shifted with every opponent, geared to the person he was fighting. Sanji? There was no pattern, or at least it seemed like there wasn't. Where against Hibari, Tsuna would go left, right, back or sometimes (but very rarely) up and above. Sanji would go left, right, back, up, down and, most surprisingly, _forward_. Twice, in as many minutes, Sanji had gone in, the first with a knee to the stomach that actually had the demon stumbling back in pain. The second was a feint with a knee, and as Hibari stepped back out of the direct way, Sanji circled his raised foot around Hibari's back leg just after he shifted his weight to use it as a brace, and the chef twisted, yanking the perfect off balance and forcing him to the ground. The hit to the shoulder Sanji delivered after the demon was there, Hayato was sure had it been anyone else, would have been debilitating.

That wasn't to say Sanji didn't take as many hits as he gave. No, neither fighter was going to walk away from this unscathed.

Sanji launched himself across the wide circle created by the on looking students, raising his leg in the last moment for a kick seemingly aimed at Hibari's chest. The demon blocked by lifting his tonfa vertically in front of him. Sanji switched from a kick to a vaulting jump off of Hibari's tonfa, launching himself nearly 10 feet in the air. He spun ass over tea kettle 3 times over before he came down with a powerful axe kick that would have scrambled Hibari's brains, had he not moved the millisecond before it landed.

The kick left a _crater_ where it landed. Forget scrambling Hibari's brains, it would have killed him.

The two fighters landed a few feet from each other, both out of breath, but with wicked grins promising more to come. (And Hayato could admit, at least in the safety of his head, that Sanji looked _hot_ like that. His hair tousled, out of breath, and that smile that promised danger and adventure… the bomber could hardly stand being so far away form him.) Slowly, cautiously, both fighters stood straight. There was a long moment of silence where every spectator wondered if the fight would continue, or if something new would happen. Would a winner be declared? Would Hibari Kyoya finally be defeated? Or would the new student fall, like so many before him?

The black-haired teen broke the silence first.

"You fight well, for an herbivore."

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Sanji bristled, his grin fading back into a sneer that looked far more natural than anything like his manic expression he had during the fight.

"It's how I classify everyone who lives in my city. Herbivore, or carnivore. I am a carnivore, everyone else isn't."

Hibari stated it like an obvious fact to a child. Sanji could only stare like he just realised the other wasn't actually all there in the head.

"Uh-huh. Right."

"You, however," The crazy man continued, narrowing his eyes in apparent thought, "You have the potential to be more. Why don't you use your hands? You could have gotten at least 3 good hits in, if you had used your hands."

Sanji laughed, "What? You saying I didn't get you pretty good there? I know I kicked you hard enough to numb your arms, it's why you're stalling, not attacking, right?"

Hibari's eyes sharpened to a glare again. "No. Now answer my question."

Sanji let out a long, suffering sigh and repeated in the same tone the deranged man had used before. "I'm a chef. My hands are far more important than any dumb school yard fight."

Hibari looked taken aback, lifting an eyebrow a moment before asking, "Then why did you even learn to fight?"

"Why the hell do you wanna know?" Sanji shot back.

There was a moment where the two men stood, gaging how the other would come at them once more. Hibari was the first to move again, dashing in faster than he had the entire first half of the fight, and it jolted Sanji into jumping straight up into the air to avoid getting hit. Without proper momentum, the best kick Sanji could land was a cheap shot to the back of the assholes' head, but then he could injure his hands in the landing from such a move, so he made to push off of the teen's left shoulder with one foot, land somewhere behind and prepare to kick this bastards' ass.

The moment his foot touched the teen's shoulder for the push off, a hand grabbed his ankle and Sanji's world was sent in a spiral as he was flung down in front of the older teen. The force of the sudden throw expelled all the air from his lungs, and the impact with the ground kept him from being able to take a breath for a good moment. It was just long enough for Hibari to jump up on top of Sanji, pin him to the ground with a tonfa to the neck, and slam the other tonfa into the ground, less than a centimeter from Sanji's upturned left hand.

A stuttered gasp as Sanji's lungs finally took in air, and the chef could only stare as his hand, his _hand_ had come just so close to being crushed to pieces.

"Sanji!" He could hear Hayato scream for him in fear, and damn, he could feel that fear running high in his veins too.

"You have two options." The demon said, tone dangerously low, "One, become a carnivore and use your hands to fight me. Or," He lifted his tonfa again, and lifted it high. "I smash both your hands into dust, bite you to death, and you run away like an herbivore."

Sanji took two deep breathes to calm himself, lifted his right leg just a touch off the ground, and swung it a little over his opposite leg. Hibari didn't seem to notice for the moment, so Sanji used that to his advantage. He took a third deep breath (because this move was going to hurt like a _**Bitch**_ ) and said,

"I choose option three." He spat in Hibari's face, startling the larger teen for a half second – and that was all the time Sanji needed. He rotated his leg as fast and as hard as he could, and he wasn't sure which he felt first, the snap-crackle-pop of his hip dislocating, or the crunch of Hibari's upper arm breaking when the kick landed. Then, all he could feel for a good two seconds was a blinding, white-hot **pain** coming from his hip.

Hibari was thrown a good distance away, landing on his now shattered arm with a cry of pain, before rolling to a skidding squat not two feet from a stunned Tsuna and co., watching in awe as their fabled, demonic, and previously undefeatable Hibari was panting from an injury that could very well end the fight.

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna called as he landed on his knees next to the taller teen, the other's around him following the action. Kyoko, being a young medic in training, darted over and grabbed Hibari's arm, causing the infallible man to cry out again. She frowned.

"It's not just broken. It's shattered." She said somberly, eyebrows drawn in worry, and Hibari hissed in her direction.

"This is nothing! I'll bite him to death!" He growled, and stood to lunge at him again, only for him to be yanked down to the ground by his bad arm by a rather unusually brave Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"No, the battle ends in a draw, and it ends now. You can challenge him again later, when you both are healed. Look! Sanji can't stand right now, let alone continue this fight."

They turned and looked back to the chef, just as the single most vaguely disturbing, and absolutely terrifying thing happened before their very eyes.

* * *

The moment Hibari Kyoya was sent flying in their direction, Hayato knew the fight had ended. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he was sure there was no other way the fight could end. And it seemed Tsuna thought the same, as the bomber listened to his rant, he knew Hibari was down with that arm, and Sanji…

"Shit!"

Hayato finally started to stumble over to the blond chef, where the man was rocking himself into a squat, his right hip dislocated, and stretched out to the side as he got his left foot underneath him, his heel directly under the _visibly dislocated bone_ , and began lifting himself up, as if to stand. He braced his hands on his right knee and that was when it clicked in Hayato's head what the idiot was about to do.

"Sanji! Stop! You're just going to make it worse!"

But it was too late. The chef was slamming his hip back into place, forcing his knee towards the ground with his hands, and forcing the bone up into its socket with his heel. Sanji screamed in pain, and Hayato burst into a run to his side. The crowd took on a collective nausea, paling either at the sight or the sound, or both, while Tsuna and the rest looked thoroughly disturbed. Hayato crouched at Sanji's side, listening to the other's heavy breathing, and said sharply,

"You… stupid idiot! You know you just worsened that, right!? I'm taking you to a hospital, no arguments!"

"No need." Sanji panted, then laughed a bit, sounding rather manic to Hayato. "I'm fine. I got this. Watch." He winked at the other male, and pulled himself into standing, looking down with a grin that matched his manic laugh, and offered his hand to help Hayato stand with him. Stunned to silence, Hayato took his hand and stood up, looking Sanji over.

"How in the _hell…_?" He sputtered, "HOW ARE YOU STANDING?!"

Sanji rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh, I relocated my hip, and stood up?" He laughed. Was it really something to gawk at? This wasn't even some of his worst injuries. Hell, if it was something he could fix and continue the fight through, then he really didn't consider it an injury, more just a painful hinderance. (That's probably the reason his young doctor-in-training friend was always yelling at him.)

Hayato really couldn't believe the chef; because, seriously? He stood there, narrowing his eyes in thinly vailed confusion, mouth open in disbelief, and turned to Juudaime. Was he seeing this too? Was _anyone_ else seeing this? By the similar look on Juudaime's face, as well as the varying degrees of confusion mixed with disturbed nausea on the faces of his friends, they had indeed seen the same thing he did, and felt the same as he. The only one with a slightly different look on his face was Hibari Kyoya, and he looked equally disturbed and impressed.

"Uh, Hayato? I realise you're stuck in disbelief right now, but can I have my hand back? I kind of need it to keep fighting."

Hayato looked back at the chef, his eyes still narrowed in disbelief, the gears in his head processing the question. The logical part of his brain kicked in at the same time a blush flashed across his face, but before he could let go in embarrassment, he intertwined their fingers and held the chef's arm to his body, grabbing the appendage with his other hand for a better grip.

"No!"

"No?"

"I'm taking you to the hospital! There is no way you're ok from _dislocating your hip, are you insane?!"_ Sanji cocked an eyebrow and looked back at Hibari.

"Fine," He sighed, looking back to Hayato, "Just let me do something else first." He began tugging his arm out of the other's surprisingly strong grip and walked closer to Hibari. "I'm not going to continue the fight, promise." He spoke softly, but his eyes were hard. The bomber had to fight to concentrate on holding the other in place, rather than stare stupidly at the other's determined expression. He decided to trail behind the chef and let go of his arm.

Hibari stood, in a half battle stance as if he wasn't sure Sanji would attack him again. His legs were shoulder-width apart, left leg braced further behind him than his right, broken arm down and his good arm up in a fist at his side. If the chef really were to continue this fight, Kyoya had no doubts he would be at a slight disadvantage, seeing as he had dropped both his tonfa after that last kick. Sanji stopped a good 5 feet from the madman, and they fell into a glaring contest.

The small brunette, Tsuna darted between them.

"Wait! You guys have to stop this fight."

Sanji lifted an eyebrow at the smaller male. "I'm not gonna fight him." He said calmly, for the second time in 15 seconds. "I just wanna ask him something."

"My, what a coincidence. I was also going to ask you something." Hibari said over spiked brown locks. Tsuna looked over his shoulder at the dark-haired demon, before turning back to Sanji and sighed, walking over to the tall Luffy (Yama-… something. Damn, Sanji really was bad with names.) muttering something Sanji couldn't quite make out. The chef dismissed it with a mental shrug.

"Why do you know how to fight so well, for someone who only wishes to cook for his life?" Hibari asked, tone genuinely curious. Sanji debated answering at all for a moment, but said with a sigh,

"My dad's restaurant only hires convicts. I picked up a bad attitude from them and my dad, and the old fart decided he would teach me to fight so that when I got into brawls I wouldn't risk my hands. You?"

"I like the fight and keeping order in my town means that I need to be skilled enough to bite down all threats, inside and out." He said, lifting his chin pointedly. "Threats like you."

Sanji smirked, "Uh-huh. Right. Total threat here." He paused a moment, "So, what's your name? Hibari, what?"

"…Hibari Kyoya." He responded hesitantly. Sanji nodded, his smirk widening.

"Ok, then, Kyo-chan, what's your favourite food?" Hibari visibly twitched with the pet name, and literally growled out,

"Just because our fight ended in a draw, does not mean you can be friendly with me."

Sanji snickered, "Ok, _Kyoya_ , what is your favourite food? Seriously, I wanna know."

Simmering just under the surface, Hibari took a moment to answer, "Onigiri. Why?" The question was asked in such a dry tone, Sanji could hardly contain his humor.

"Alright then. Don't bring a lunch tomorrow, I'll bring you one." With that done, Sanji nodded again and walked away, heading back towards Hayato while ignoring the growled "What?" and the accompanying looks of confusion on pretty much every spectator there.

Hayato was blinking at him, his expression clearly asking Sanji what the hell was wrong with him. Sanji just smiled at him and grabbed his jacket and bag.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hayato." He said with a wink as he left the stunned teen standing in the open court yard. Halfway home, Sanji realized something rather important.

"Shit, I forgot to get Hayato's number. Again."

* * *

The next morning found Hibari Kyoya looking at his sad excuse of a kitchen (a temporary place of stay after his usual place of living burnt to the ground nearly a month ago), at the usual empty bento sitting on the cracked counter and sighed. Did he really think the threat from the day previous would actually bring him food? No, but he had nothing left in his fridge anyway. He would go the day without food, should he need to. (Though, to be perfectly honest, Kusakabe would likely bring him something from the cafeteria if Hibari just asked him.)

Lo and behold, however, 5 minutes after the lunch bell and just as Hibari was seriously entertaining the idea of making Kusakabe bring him food, the demonic perfect heard sounds of familiar voices chattering out side of his door.

"You can't be serious, Sanji! That asshole tried to smash your hands yesterday! Why would you make him a lunch?"

"Remember how I said I was a cook from a young age? My dream is to become a chef of the highest caliber, not for the fame or fortune, but because I like feeding people. Even crazy lunatics like this guy."

"That's very admirable of you, Sanji-san, but I still don't think you should."

"Sawada, you don't even think I should be walking right now."

"Haha! How is your hip anyway? All better?"

"It wasn't even injured in the first place, man."

The end of the sentence was punctuated by the door to Hibari's office opening, and Hibari quickly pretended to ignore the clatter of multiple people waltzing into his space unannounced as he watched them come at him. With the blankest stare he could muster, he held out his hand expectantly, and was pleasantly surprised to have a relatively large bento presented to him.

"You can return that when you come ask for seconds. I'll be on the roof." Sanji said with a cheeky grin, shooting a wink at the perfect and sauntered his way out the door after that.

It took a full 5 seconds for the four left behind to realize what had just happened.

"Uh… what?" Tsuna asked quietly. Yamamoto and Hayato answered with a shrug, and Hibari responded with a glare. After Tsuna scampered out, his friends in tow, Hibari cautiously opened the bento and peered inside. There were 6 large onigiri and a side of vegetables, and the smell halted Hibari's brain from further thought.

He took a deep breath in through his nose, picked up the first onigiri, and brought it to his lips for the first bite. He chewed, slow and thoughtful, and grabbed the second before he even realized the first was done. And the first bite into the second was a small shock to his taste buds he was not expecting. Was that… salted salmon? Yes… yes it was. And it was practically melting in his mouth. He discovered as he ate that there was only one plain rice onigiri, the first, and the rest were all stuffed with various fillings. Having finished them before he could really appreciate them, he started on the vegetable side.

"… Wao…"

* * *

Sanji sat on the roof, once again in a circle of 7 plus himself, talking about everything and nothing. For a moment, the blonde really missed his own group of rowdy friends, seeing how calm and plain these people were in comparison. He missed Luffy's overjoyed laughter, Nami and Robin's cute giggles with each re-telling of Usopp's outlandish stories. He missed their music teacher's weird 'Yohoho!' laugh and his beautiful violin music, and he missed their shop teacher's equally weird antics and his amazing creations. He missed Chopper's worried complaining about injuries when ever he and Zoro got into a brawl. Hell, he even missed the marimo's infuriating smirk when they sparred!

"Sanji-san?" A feminine voice brought the chef from his reminiscing thoughts and back to the world at present.

"Hm? Yes, my dear?" He wasn't sure which young woman spoke, but they were all gathered directly across from him, so he just looked in their direction until someone else spoke up. The voice wasn't the same, but the girl with long black hair (Kurokawa Hana, if Sanji remembered correctly, and Sanji was much better at remembering girls' names than guys) pointed behind him.

"I think you have a visitor."

Sanji careened his neck back until he could see the black-haired male behind him. It was Hibari Kyoya, standing there in all his glory, pointedly looking away and thrusting his used bento box at the chef. Sanji grinned in thinly veiled victory.

"Why, hello there! What brings you allllll the way up here?" Sanji asked with a far-too-chipper tone as he sat up correctly and spun to his feet in a second. He reached to grab something from his bag and shoved it in his pocket as he stood, going unnoticed by most there. He hid the movement by straightening out his jacket near the bottom and took one long step into Hibari's personal space bubble. He finished by leaning in obnoxiously and asking sweetly, "How was your lunch?"

"Shut up and bring me more tomorrow." Hibari growled, shoving the empty box into Sanji's chest. The chef had to admit, it was hard keeping in his pure glee at this situation. It was just too funny. Sanji tisk'ed with a sigh.

"Yeah, I don't think I can."

"…. _Why._ "

"Well, for starters, tomorrow is the weekend, and seeing as I don't know where you live, I don't think I can bring it to you."

Hibari just growled, his glare causing Sanji's heart to speed up – and not in a good way. The chef took in a discreet breath in through his nose to calm himself; he needed to be in full control of the situation here in order to gain the favour he wanted. That meant he couldn't afford to let Hibari know how much that glare got to him. It was quite possibly the scariest glare he had ever seen.

(Though there was that one-time Luffy found some guy trying to force himself on a drunken Nami at a party. That had been the worst beat-down Sanji had ever witnessed, and he frequently prayed that he would never have to see it again.)

"But I do have a proposition for you."

"Colour me intrigued, herbivore." Hibari challenged, his tone dryer than a hot summer's day. In Egypt. Sanji smiled.

"Let me have one cigarette on campus during lunch."

Hibari physically lunged, tonfa magically appearing in his hands, a snarl on his lips just as Sanji pulled out what he had stuffed into his pocket earlier.

A 7th onigiri was waved in front of Hibari's face, halting the deranged teen in his tracks.

"Geeze, would you let me finish what I was saying before you straight up attack me?"

Hibari narrowed his eyes further but waited in his frozen fighting stance.

"Thank you. As I was saying. Let me have one cigarette on campus during lunch everyday. In exchange, I'll make you a lunch everyday, until either you graduate, or I do. I'll be your personal chef for boxed lunches. And I swear on my mother's grave, I will never litter. I have a portable, disposable ash-tray and I like using it in public. In exchange for one cig now, I'll give you this extra onigiri I have."

Hibari relaxed his stance, slightly, his eyes never really leaving the onigiri, "And what makes you think I would make a deal with you? Smoking on school property is against the rules."

"Lighten up, will you?" Sanji sighed, but he had been expecting the push back. Though he really took a gamble on the onigiri actually stopping the teen from killing him, and he was surprised that the other male was even listening to him.

"Look, I have a real, honest reason for smoking. I need to have one before I can eat anything." The chef said in response.

"That is called an addiction."

"While the addiction is part of it, it isn't everything. I have extremely over sensitive taste buds, and I need that smoke either right before or right after I eat in order to actually keep it down. Preferably before, so that I can enjoy what I eat."

Hibari raised an eye brow. "And you expect me to believe such a lie?"

Sanji mirrored his look. "I was hospitalized once when I was little due to malnutrition because I couldn't eat, and when I forced myself too, I brought it back up because of the taste that lingered after I ate. Smoking numbs my taste buds enough that I can actually enjoy the food I'm eating, without bringing it back up. I can taste the fucking minerals in tap water. Anything I eat, spiced or not, it isn't the most pleasant experience."

They stood watching each other, waiting to see who would move first. Sanji, unfortunately, lost that battle.

"Quick recap then. Onigiri now for one cigarette. Lunch every weekday in exchange for one, _one_ cigarette at lunch. That's a pretty good deal." Sanji tried again, nodding at the end of his sentence as if the motion would help sway the other. And maybe it did help, because the next words out of the violent perfect's mouth were,

"Just one, and lunch everyday, brought to me in my office." With that, Hibari Kyoya swiped the Onigiri from Sanji's hand and began walking away, unwrapping the meal-sixed treat and taking a bite as the door swung closed behind him.

A moment of pause passed over them, and Sanji's only thought during that time was, _'Holy shit, that worked?'_

Sanji waited a couple heart beats, before grinning so widely his cheeks hurt. He spun to face the rest of the group with a flamboyant twist, bowing deeply with one forearm pressed to his stomach, the other to his back, and his ankles crossed.

"And _that_ is how you negotiate with a tyrant." Sanji said with a laugh, though his victory was muted when the chef realised he was the only one making any sound. He straightened again and took in the looks of shock on each and every face looking back at him. Sanji found he probably would have laughed again, had the tension in the air not been so high. Hayato was the first to break the uncomfortable quiet.

" _How did you do that?"_

"…Do what?"

"Make a deal with Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, taking a deep breath as if he had been holding it this whole time. "I didn't even know it was possible to do that!" Sanji just laughed as he sank down to the ground.

"I suppose it would seem impossible, but you know the phrase 'The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach'? It's fairly accurate for, like, everything." He chuckled and closed his eyes a moment. He opened his eyes again just in time to see the girl with the eyepatch, Chrome, (weird name, but she was cute, and it somehow fit her very well.) lean forward and say slowly and suspiciously,

"You can cook like a 5-star chef, fight like a world champion, walk off an injury that would have put a normal person in the hospital for at least 6 months, and negotiate with the most stubborn man I've ever met. Are you even human?"

"Hey! Chrome-chan! That was mean!" The girl next to her, Kyoko, exclaimed, swatting good naturedly at the other girl's arm. They all started laughing like what the girl had asked was a joke, and Sanji joined them, laughing to hide how close to home the remark landed.

Sanji used the moment after the laughter ended to take a smoke break, excusing himself and leaning against the railing away from the crowd, pulling the first stream of toxins into his lungs. Hayato joined him a minute or two later, lighting a cigarette himself, and they stood in silence while the smoke calmed Sanji's suddenly rattled nerves.

"I know we've still just met, Sanji, but if there is ever anything you want to talk to me about, I'm here." Hayato said quietly, his words doing strange fluttery things to Sanji's stomach again. Sanji just stuttered a breath and smiled, a thin and so very see-through attempt to seem normal.

"I'm fine." He lied. Hayato looked like he didn't believe it, but also like he understood the context behind the lie – too much, too fast. Wasn't that what had occurred on Sanji's balcony, the night after they met? Hayato could understand that.

The silverette nodded slowly, and Sanji wanted to lean in closer, settle his hip next to Hayato's on the railing and just be near the other – but why would he do that? Why would he want that? Hayato was a guy and Sanji was straight! … wasn't he?

Physically shaking the thoughts from his head, Sanji pulled out his portable ashtray and dumped the dead butt in it, pinching the re-enforced paper to ensure the embers were out before passing it off to Hayato for the other to do the same. They re-joined the group and sat next to each other, perhaps a touch closer than Sanji had meant to, but neither teen moved away. Sanji also noticed that the group had been rearranged a bit – Tsuna had moved to sit closer to Tall Luffy (Yama… Yama… mo…to?).

"So, I've been wondering something." Kurokawa Hana said, pulling Sanji from his musings.

"Yes?"

"Why do you call Gokudera by his given name? I get why every one calls you by yours; your last name is French, right?"

"Yeah, Haru was wondering that too, why you call him that. And how do you pronounce your last name?" The girl next to her, Miura Haru asked, head tilted to the side.

"Actually, it was his idea." Sanji said, turning to Hayato, who in turn immediately looked away, not meeting Sanji's eyes. "Hayato?" He said lightly, tilting his head and leaning forward to try to get a glimpse at the other male's face, almost certain it would be flushed pink. He gave up when the other just moved farther away. With a sigh, Sanji turned back to the girls with a shrug.

"And yeah, I'm French. My last name is pronounced _Noir_. It means black." He said simply, used to giving this specific explanation about himself.

" _N-No-aru?"_ The pretty lighter-haired brunette said, a finger to her lips and her head tilted to the side. Sanji smiled at her.

"So close!" He said with a grin and repeated his name again.

"Oh, I just love the sound of the French language! Can you say something else in it?" The same young girl asked. Sanji was so done with this question though; he really didn't want to say anything in his native tongue, even for a beautiful young woman. But she looked so… hopeful, Sanji didn't want to let her down. So, the chef decided to give her what she wanted, and give himself a mental break as well.

"Alright," He said. "You asked for it."

" _Il y avait une femme de Cue, qui remplissait son vagin avec de la colle. Elle a dit avec un sourire, s'ils payaient pour entrer, ils paieraient pour s'en sortir aussi."_

Hayato burst into laughter at his side, and Sanji turned to him, just as the other was calming down.

" _Dude, where the hell did that come from?"_

Sanji looked on in surprise, eyes wide with joy. _"You speak French, Hayato?! That's awesome! When did you learn?"_

Pink dusted across the Hayato's cheeks, but both teens ignored it in favour of continuing their conversation no one else could understand. _"I actually taught myself. I went backpacking through Europe and landed my self in France. The language sounded really cool, so I thought it would be a good language for me to learn."_ He said with a smile.

" _You're self-taught? You sound so good!"_ Sanji said with a laugh. _"And someone from my Dad's restaurant taught it to me. You see, this guy-"_

"Um, guys?" A small voice interrupted them, and the two teens turned to look at Tsuna. "Could you maybe speak a language we all understand?" He asked tentatively.

Sanji chuckled self-consciously and lifted a hand to rub the back of his head. But before he could apologize for it, Hayato beat him to it. The silver-haired teen lunged to the ground, immediately sweeping into a _dogeza._

"I am so sorry, Juudaime! I didn't even think about how I was excluding you from our conversation! Can you ever forgive me for my thoughtlessness?!"

Sanji blinked at him. "Um… H-Hayato? What are you doing?"

Hayato sat up, looking both embarrassed and torn between continuing to apologize, and attempt to explain what he was doing to Sanji.

"I…"

"Gokudera-kun, it's ok. I don't mind if you want to have a conversation with Sanji-san, but don't hog him, ok? We all want to be his friend too." Sawada interrupted with a bright smile. Hayato seemed to be relieved that he didn't have to explain to Sanji, and the chef made note of that. There was something going on between the two of them, and for a split second, Sanji felt a little jealous. He knew he shouldn't; he didn't know Hayato like Sawada seemed too, no matter how much Sanji suddenly wanted to.

His thoughts were cut off as the girl who asked for him to speak French, Sasagawa Kyoko-chan, piped up.

"Sanji-san, that sounded really pretty. What did you say?"

Sanji grinned with a light blush, "Ah, well, something I probably shouldn't say in a language you understand."

"She's heard worse." Hayato said, ginning wide. "If you wont, I will."

Sanji looked the teen over, cocked his head to the side, and said, "You know what? Go ahead. I dare you; tell them. Let's see how good your translations are."

Hayato shrugged. "Alright." He grinned. "'There once was a woman from Cue, who filled her vagina with glue. She said with a grin, if they pay to get in, they'll pay to get out of it, too.'"

There was a long moment of silence as all four girls, plus Sawada, blushed a deep scarlet red. Yamamoto (that had to be his name, Sanji was _sure_ of it!) was howling with laughter, and Sanji and Hayato were laughing too, just far less. Sanji looked to his side at Hayato, just as the other male looked back at him, and they lost it.

* * *

Well folks, this is chapter 2! I've actually split this in two, because otherwise it would be more than 12,000 words, and I just… can't.

Read, Enjoy, Review! Love you!


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